South East Stars begin their Charlotte Edwards Cup campaign later this month with a trip to Bristol to face Western Storm.
The Stars will play ten matches, five at home – with two at The Kia Oval, two at Beckenham, and one at Canterbury – and five away, including trips to Lord’s and Chester-le-Street.
They have started the 2024 season in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy continuing their brand of ultra-aggressive cricket. With four wins from the opening six games of the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy – and two incredibly close losses, the Stars will be looking to continue their strong start to the season in the shorter format.
Speaking of the move from 50 over to 20 over, Stars captain Bryony Smith said: “For us, there won’t be much of a change in terms of the way we approach our T20 from our 50 overs, we’re still looking to put high scores on the board and play that exciting brand of cricket.”
The brand of cricket is to help bring success on the pitch, but also off the pitch as the game reaches a new audience. Smith said: “We want people to come and watch us and show them what we can do!”.
With five Charlotte Edwards Cup matches played as T20 double-headers alongside the Vitality Blast, the Stars are looking to entertain some potential new audiences at some of the biggest grounds in the country.
The Stars kick off the T20 summer at The Kia Oval, where they face Southern Vipers on Sunday 2 June before Surrey men host Somerset. The Stars return to The Kia Oval to face Sunrisers in a standalone fixture on Saturday 15 June.
The 2021 Charlotte Edwards Cup success was the Stars’ only piece of silverware to date. Smith’s side blew teams away with their attacking approach with the bat and ball. Reflecting, Smith said: “We’ve had a lot of talk around this (the brand of their cricket), not just the winter, but ever since we started really.”
She added, “From the start, Johann came in and said, ‘Let’s play a real positive brand of cricket’, and we saw that when we won the Charlotte Edwards Cup. For the first year, we were way above other teams in the way we approached it.”
Coach Myburgh and Smith have not feared being bold in utilising their flexible batting order, as the Stars have regularly had four or five batters padded up to be utilised dependent on the match situation.
“For us, it’s all about being flexible. If we get off to a really good start, we might send different people in depending on the situation. There is a real team-first approach to our cricket!”
Firepower could be added to the side as Alice Capsey may return to the fold following England’s white-ball series with Pakistan. Capsey’s return would supplement a batting outfit that has scored 250 plus on four occasions in the 50-over format.
Sophia Dunkley is the top run-scorer in the country so far this season, scoring 293 runs at an average of 97.66. Both Tash Farrant (234 runs) and Bryony Smith (207) have surpassed 200 runs.
However, the Stars player to watch is seam bowler Ryana MacDonald-Gay. Macca – as she is referred to by her peers – won the PCA’s April Player of the Month award with some brilliant displays with the new ball in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.
MacDonald-Gay has taken 12 wickets from her opening four matches of the 2024 season, including a career-best 5/31 against the Blaze at Leicester. Capable of taking wickets at the top of an innings with the new ball, MacDonald-Gay will also likely be used to close games out with her death bowling skillset.
Smith has set her sights on lifting the trophy once again at Finals Day. She outlined: “We believe we can win it and beat any team on our day!”
She added: “We all love playing T20 cricket! We’ve got a really strong squad and we have shown that at the start of this Rachael Heyhoe-Flint Trophy.”
The Stars’ 2024 Charlotte Edwards Cup fixtures can be found here.
